Excavating machine



Dec. 16, 1930. R. KURTZ EXCAVATING MACHINE Filed May 19, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.

11/4 ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 16, 1930. R. KURTZ- EXGAVATING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Shem 2 Filed May 19, 1924 A TTORNEYS.

Dec. 16, 1930. R. KURTZ EXCAVATING MACHINE Filed May 19, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 A TTORNEYS.

Patented Dem 16,1930

I v m mss Application filed May 19, 1924., se al'no. 715197,

This inyention relates to an improvedtype' of excavating machine, particularly adapted for the grading ofroads' p r a The improved machine compr ses essentlally a main body having supporting wheels, the

relative levels of Which maybe-"adjusted according to the excavation being made,a' "transverse rigid supporting beam piyotally' mounted at one endther'eof on the main body and having its other end adjustable upward ly and downwardly about its pivot,"fa'nd' ex cavating meansmovablyrsupported and-guided upon and by said beam and comprising drag chains and excayating buckets by means ofwhich the dirt, gravel orthe likematerial of the road or other surfaceisexcayatedl h -m n s P e bly Provide wi h? its ownmotor for efiecting operation'jof the difierentineans thereon {and for transportationofthemachine, e j j Hereinafter forconyenience separate de -f scription is given of the five essential parts' ofthe machine viz; the suspension system;- the rigid movable supporting beam; the ex-rj" ;'the .m'otio ntransniis 'sion means; and thestabilizer.

One form of machinefiis illustrated in the, v

cavating or drag inea accompanying drawings which Figure 1 is a rear. elevation of thermachine ln'working position; Fig. 2 is aplan yiew with the eX- 3 cavatingmeans removed; Fig.1?) is a side ele Vation With the excavatingmeans removed .;The mainybody of the machine alarmed; ofa horizontal platform A, Figs; 1; 2, 3', Whichs maybe of cast iron, and has twoyertical "de; pending plates, one in 'tlierfront andone in the rear, marked A and 1 respectively;

Fig. 3; I

This main body is' supported at the from part thereof on a single supporting and steeringwheel W Fig. fWlliChiS rota tably mounted in two bearing brackets, Z2, secured a to a circular plate f rotatably carried by the hand Wh eel g?. The angular position ofthe' advances.-a a I I to a 1 The main body issupportedat its rear part upon tWo supporting Wheels WFWi, mounted 1 Y guided bytyyo grooyed brackets df'cl at:

tached to the Vertical plate: A of the main! serves to'jraise-or loWe-r the column and the.

"Wheel in relation tothe main body.

@The circular plate f is adapted to be turned a n ell Onthe column 0, an V with it the brackets b and the W'heel-"Wk This circular plate isprovided with tetli'f? adapted to mesh with a-pinion f secured to thev lower end ofa spindle grota'table in the brackets g on thecolumn 0 and having the.

WheeIIW i-n regardto the main body of the qnaqhine can thus be ehanged at wnrstes to determine the direction inyvhich themachine g upon a rear axle enclosedwithin a rear axle housmg D, Fig 1. r

Two arms D of the casing-D, Figs. 1 andfi bevel pinions E .,to the WOI 'iD- E Whl(3h meshes g with the Worm Wheel Eflsecured to the I a will b readily seen that by Same rangement' motion is always vproperly trans The. connection between this housing D andthe inainj'body is obtainedlby a special 8% permits the transmission ofmotion tocthe axlel in anyfsuch angular-position.

and Figs. 4, 5 and 6. are detailyiewsfofcertain embrace the plate A ofthe main body, and

v are traversed by a hollow pivot E,'through the naperturelotwhich extends a spindle E which transmits motion, by means of a set'ofe mitted to the axle Whatever the angular pov sition of thehousing and axle may bein rea e'mei b -f I The position oftheaxle and housing is def V p p v w f't ermined by meansof an arrangement simicolumn c." This column 1s composed oftwo spaced" channelbars 0 Which maybejof 5L- larfto th at employedfor -adj usti'ngth'e front. wheel, which has already been described;

a Theft'woichannel bars F,[constituting the (501 umn, embrace and are guided by grooves in ,;W W, the front one rolling on the natural ground, and the two rear ones roll- 4,

' y desired.

K which serves for-ith'eguidance andflsup-i the vertical plateA of the-main body and at their lower ends they carry a roller F shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, which rests upon the axlehou'sing D. The hand wheel F atthe upper end of the column is secured to a threaded spindle F threaded into the platform A so that'by turning the wheel F the relative positions of'the platform and housing may be varied by relative movement about the pivot E. The'roller' F permits the necessary sliding movement of the housing Dv rel-i atively to the column F during suchadju'str ment. v a e i the arrangements described, the whole machine is supported upon the three wheels,

ing on the" bottom of the finished excavation and the relative levels of the threewheels. can besmodif ede at wilL while the; platforln Ais maintained in a suhstantiallyihorizontal position, andthe motion is properly trans mitted to the rear axle. Itwilljbegunderstood that the rear axlemay bedivided and driven through adifferentialmechanism;

Ramada I a edge of: each plate and on the inside face o'f the plate is formed.alguidegroove ojrch'annel port'of the wheelsof the excavatingor ag elements hereinafter mentioned;

' The loweredge of each'plateK, K of'the' rigid beam corresponds in contour to the transversal cont-our of the fcxcavationforg which the machine isdesigned} I At the right hand end'tliereof, the rigid beam comprising the platesflK, K is'pivotal5 1y mounted on the'shaft 7c which is carried by the two brackets H,H suitably secured tov the depending plates in, Ancient min body; The shaft is freely'rotatable in the bearings at'the ends of the platesfK K and; also in'tlie bearings of the two brackets H,'H 5

At the left hand end thereof, the rigid beam'is supported so that itmaybe adjusted vertically, by means of two screw threaded spindles L, L Fig, 3, of opposite hand, the

upper ends of which are connected by bevel pinions L T, Lflwith a shaft T fhereinafter referred'to; The spindlesvL, L are-supported at their upper ends by the platform A and at their lower ends by bracketsfL carried by the plates A? and Afif and they have threaded engagement-with nuts m, m carried by the plates,'K,K 'oftlietigidibeam. The. K nuts are ,mounted on the, plates so as tofbef the bearings of the plates K, K the three shafts is, k and 76 having secured thereto the sprocket wheels [70? which I are preferably arranged on theoutside-of the plates, as shown in Fig. 2, and which serve to drive the drag chains of the drag or excavating means y y W The ewca'oating or'tlmg means The excavating aneans is composed of, a' plurality of excavating elements, shown on an "enlarged scale in Fig. 4. Each of these elements comprises a bucket or scoop which is'sup'porte'djby means of four wheels P mounted on two 'aXlesP carried by two brackets 71,, a}, secured to the vvbuckets or. scoopsfFig s, 4: and 5',jwhich wheels are so arranged asf'fto travel within" the grooves or channels K of the plates K,;K of the rigid 1 beani'flbefore referredtofwhereby the buck- V V ets-"are-positively supported and guided by The rigidbeam iscomposed'ofjtwo spaced apart, symmetrical plates K, K which'mayz be of cast iron united bytransversefbraces Z, 1 f. Q

The shape'of these plates, in .cro'ss'section, is.

showniindetail-in Fig.5: V

i Extending around the entire peripheral the beam to move in'the desiredpath during the excavating'operationi i r The buckets or scoops P r are preferably bottomless and each ofthe'm is provided at T and loosen the soil in advance of the bucket,

The buckets yor -scoops P- are'connected to 1 and Inovedfbythe two drag orfdrive chains Pifwhich travel overthe sprockets 70 mounted up on the shafts Ja 76 {and 70 of the v rigid beam, thesewchainsi l being [provided with special'l nks g by means ofiwhich' connection 7 is made w'ith the buckets.

Motion transmission means Power is furnished to drive the-several mechanismsdescribed, by asuitable electric :By means vof another ordinary clutch (not shown) the motor shaft M may be connected: to ,drive asprocket. R lv connected by a sprocket chain'R toj asprocket R secured to the shaft is, whereby the sprockets 70* on this-shaft maybe driven, when desired, to

efielct thgmovqir erit ofthe drag chains P 01- other met-Jerri suit blymounted po the mg operation. j v p v The motor shaft M also constantly drives, by means of pinions M? in the opposite directionto the shaft M Each of the shafts Ml and T havesecured' thereto sprockets 1" which drive 'by-means of sprocket chains 1" two sprockets'r?looselymounted upon the shaft T hereinbeforereferred to, the sprockets r rotat-ing" in opposite directions. By means of-"a 'suitable attached to the-plate A? of the main'b o'dyp is mounted-acoltimn V of the same kind as the columns F and C already described;

clutch S, Fig. 2, the'sha'ft TFmay beaconnected with one or the other of the sprockets, or may be disconnected from both; of them.

The shaft T has secured thereto thebevel gears L before referred to, and b'y-connecting the shaft T? with one ori'other of the sprockets T the screw threaded spindles L, L may be {driven 'in one direction or the other whereby the rigid beam K, K maybe raised orlowered-at the left hand end thereof, about the shaft" 7c,'in order to vary the, plane of operation ofthe buckets P and thedepth of the excavating operationr Tae eabaaer a In orderto avoid the machine slipping towards thebottom of the ditch or excava tionfas the natural tendency wouldbe, a stabilizer is provided; On the bracket Z,

This column supports "at its" lowerend, by means; of brackets V ,*V secured to the channel bars constituting the column, a'series of rollers V which are ada ptedto coact with the'iinclined face V 'of the excavation and thereby to maintainthe machine, du ring its,

forward movement, in the; proper line -"of travel. By means of thehand wheel '4);

which operates a threadedvspindleco acting" with thebracket Z, the column and thereby the series of rollers may b rai ed 6 -1 W eredat will. p g i Opera-ideal 5 Whenthe .wheelsViZ' andllV are main tained at the same level '(in regardv to the main body) as thewheel W3 the machine isready for transport-bye'theaction of its. vown motor and .vcan-sbejtransported to the placewherethe ditching or excavating is to be carried on.

"Having arrivedat the place' to be excavate ed, thewheels lW and W are adjusted rela tively to the main body, and.while the machine is stationary tliedrag @c'hainsandthe excavating buckets are put into operation clutchingthe sprocket R? to the motor'shaft,

and excavation starts; By clutching theshaft I T to one or other'of the sprocketsr the left hand end of th'e'rigidbeaniK, islowered to a certain-depthwhile the dragchainsand buckets arein operation, and then'raised carrying the buckets 51?- to effect the excavat -i a secondary'shaft T,

again; The machine has-now made an excavation'on-an inclined plane, and the drag chains are thrown out of operation, and the sprocket R is clutched-to the motor shaft, so

that the machine advances alength equal to the width of the' rigid'beam. Wheels W and V and the body are thenvrelatively adjusted a little more and the operation re peated till t-hedesired depth ofiexcavation -is0btainedi-From now on theplatform VA of the main body ,is always maintained in t a horizontal position 1 due to, the relative adj ustmentof the supporting wheels, Themapositi on to obtain the, desired-grading. The left hand end ofthe rigid beam K,-'K 'goes up and down to the necessary depthwhile the drag chains and buckets are in operation, for which purpose, proper indlcators (not. shown on the plans) may beprovided. Eachtiine chine is souadjustedthat in such a'position of the main body theshaftlc is in the proper g the excavating buckets reach the limit depth,

4) of the excavating buckets is pushedby the bottomless buckets Pup 1 rigid beam,z-from' which point itmay' beyre moved, or maybe spread; by any: suitable means.

i .It is to understood that whileaspecific embodiment offfthe. invention haslbeen de-iv the rigid beam is raised, and the 'machinead-A vances a length equal'to the 'width of the .beamor'excavation. I Y

a The earth removed by the-knives p (Fig.

to" the end of the scribed in' detail, the-inventionis not limited 7 I to the particular devices'aiid constructifonsfjog. described for, effecting the desired. operations.=

or'adjustmentsas,thesamemay be variously changedior modified as may bedesired, the

scope; of the; invention being defined by the *Havingthus described myrinvention I 'claim' and desireto securefbyLetters Patent 1. excavating machine comprising ,a;

main body, wheels for supporting the same; an adjustable excavating unit -.carried by the body, and a rear axle, on which a pair of such wheels is mounted, equippedwith' driving mechanism:therefonenclosed within a casing joined to themain bodyjbymeansofa hollow I piv t- V vated surface,' .front*and rear supporting wheels carriedfby said-:body, and meanslfor' adjustinglsaid" supporting wheels tojj permit the' former to" travel on the. natural ground and; the latter to travelon the "inclined e ert vated surfacewhile maintaining said bodyin asubstantially"horizontal position.

An excavating machine,*icomprising a An excavating. mach1ne,=compr1s1ng a main body, a: rigid ,beam' extending trans excavated surface, excavating means carried by said beam and'movalble 'thereon trans versely ofsaid body, front and rearrsupportmgjwheelsmounted on said body, andmeans for adjusting saidrea'rsupporting wheels to cause;the same to travel; on the.i'nclinedcexcavated surface Whileinaintaining said body in a substantially horizontal position.

45'A11 excavating machine, comprising a main body, av driven lexcavating means mounted onesaid body transversely thereof and adapted to travel'rtransversely of said body to effect excavation of:'material-, means for effecting vertical?adjustment,ofsaid ex+ cavating'm'eans relatively to said .body'to" vary'the depthof the excavation'and the in'-.

clination of the excavated surface,'front and rear supporting Wheels carr ed-by said body,

' and means-for adjusting the mean supporting said front and rear-supporting Wheels and wheels and axle thereof asa :unit. relatively to said main body to permitsaid wheels to I travel on the inclined excavated surface while maintaining said body substantially horizonunit suspendedbeneath said body between including excavating: elements travelling in a predetermined path in plane'at' right angles "to the direction of 'movementfof said, body, means for vertically adjusting s'aidex cavatingunit relativelyto said body to: vary 1 the depth a of the exc'avationl'andtd hold said excavating unit positively in adjustedposi tion, and means for effecting relative-adjustment bet veen both the frontflan'd the rear supporting Wheels and the body to permit thef front vWheelTto' -travel=onthe natural ground and the 'rear wheels to travel on the excavated surface while maintainingthe j body in-a substantiallyhorizontalpositions; e- 6. An excavatingmachine, comprising amain body, Y a w front supporting Wheel, rear supporting Wheels, an adjustable excavating unit carried by saidbody and operative while the machine islstationary andincluding excavating elements. travelling in a pred eter mined path in aplane at rightangles tothe direction of movement of said body inadi-H rection transverse to said body, mean-s for. vertically adjusting said excavating innit relatively tojsaid' body to varythe depth orf inclination of the 'excavatedsurface and to hold said excavatingunit positively iniad-v i-u no's iom an m ts foarais ng a d main body; front and rear supporting Wheels carried by saidbody, an excavatinglowering the front Wheel relatively to the main body. I e

, 7.jAn 1excavat-1ng machine, comprising'a main body, "afront supporting Wheel and rear supporting heelsfcarried' by said body,v an; excavating ;unit v carried by said bod-yand operative While the machine is stat v tionary in a direction transverse to said body, meansforT vertically ad ust1ng'sa1d excavating-unit to vary'the depthof theexcavlation and the inclination of the excavated surface, means for raising 'andyloweringthe frontavheel relatively to themain body, and

means for adjusting thereainwheels relative- 1y to said'body to permit the. same to, travel on" the 1 excavated surface While maintaining said body in a substantially horizontal position. 'o ,-i m

VS; An excavating'machine; comprising a main body, front and rear supporting Wheels therefor, an excavating unit carriedrby said:

body and extending transversely thereof,

means for effecting vertical adjustment'of: said excavating unitrelatively to said body to vary the depth of the excavation and the inclination of the excavated surface, said rear supportingvvheels and the driving axle therefor, being carriedbya support pivotally connected to said bod-y about a longitudinal axis, means for drivingsaid axle inallfpositionsofsaid support, and means for. efiecting pi'votaljmovement of said. supportabout said axis relativelyto said'body to permit the rear heels; to travel on the inclinedexcavated surface while maintaining the body in a substantially horlzontal position. j I

I A -iem i a eehmeic nr s e a main body, front. andrear supporting Wheelstherefor, an excavatlngyun t-carr ed by sa d;

body andliexte idingtransverselythereof,

means for effeotingvertical adj ustment. of; said excavating unit relatively to said body to varylthe depth of the excavation and the inclination of the excavated surface, said rear supporting wheels and the axle therefor comprising a unit pivot-ally connectedto said 7 body about a longitudinal axis, means for effecting pivotal movement of said wheel unit about saidaxis relatively to said bodyto e mittherear Wheels to'travel on theinclined excavated. surface while maintai'ning the;

body in'za substantially horizontal position,

and driving' means on said body for drivingsaidrea'r wheels, including an element rotatable about axis coincidentfivith the pivotal ax ofthewheel i-t main body,;a front wheel and rear support: ing wheels carried by said body,arigid beam extending'transversely of: said body and suspended 'the'r'efrom 1loetiveen said front and rear supporting wheelspthe'contour of the;

lower edge of saidbearn corresponding to the shape of,thegtransverse-contour of the excavation to; be made, excavating. elements 10, An excavating machine, comp'ri's ingaw guided in their travel by the lower edge of said beam, and means forpositioning said rear Wheels relatively to saidbody to travel g on the excavated surfacewhile maintaining 5 said body in a substantiallyhorizontalposition. I 11. An excavating machine, comprising a main body, comprising a front wheel; and rear supporting Wheels, arigid beam carried by said body transversely thereof be-. tween said front and rear supporting wheels and provided at least at-its lower peripheral edge with a guide groove or channel corre-- sponding to the shape of the transverse con- Y 5 tour of the excavation to be made, a series of, movable excavatingelementsv having sup porting wheels movable Within said channel, and means for positioning said rearsupport- U ing wheels relatively to the body to travel on the surface excavated by said'qelements while maintaining the body in a "substantially horizontal position. a i

12. An excavating machine composed of a main body, meansvfor supporting the same, a 1 rigid beammounted on said body, and drag chains supported on said beam for movement' in a closed path and carrying excavating elements, each one of the latter comprisingian open bottomed scoop operative to push the c .30 earth up to the end of the rigid beam and leave it there, andmeansat the front ofsaid scoop for ploughing and loosening the earth. 13. An excavating machine including a main body, an excavating unit carried therec 3 by and operable in a direction transverseto the direction of movement offsaid body to form a main upwardly inclined excavated. surface and an outwardly and upwardly in clined lateralface at the outer side ofsaid 40 surface, and a stabilizer mounted on said body and provided with'a pressureelement inclined correspondingly to said lateral face and adapted to engage therewith throughout its length. V i 5 '14. Anexcavating machine including a main body, an excavating unit'carriedtherey by and operable in a direction transverse vto a the direction of movement ofsaid body to" ,forma main upwardly inclined excavated I surface and an upwardly and outwardly inclined lateralface at the outer side ofsaid '5 I f surface, and a stabilizer mounted "on said body and having apressure elementcomprising a series ofrollers havingtheir axes inclined correspondingly to said lateral face and adaptedto engage said facethrough;v out their lengths and to roll therealong. l

. In testimony whereof I affix my signature. d 

